Anthony Corallo

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Anthony Corallo

Born	February 12, 1913 East Harlem, New York, USA
Died	August 23, 2000 New York, USA

Anthony "Tony Ducks" Corallo (February 12, 1913-August 23, 2000) was a New York City mobster and boss of the Lucchese crime family. He would provide a great business in construction for his family and would be a true Lucchese boss keeping a low profile, letting other bosses get the glory and fame, as well as jail sentences, for a while that is.

1 Early life
2 Rise to power
3 Downfall
4 External link

[edit] Early life

Growing up in an Italian section of East Harlem, he had to fight to stay alive. In his early years as a teen he was known as "The Doctor"; most likely because he had saved someone's life. He would get his nickname, "Tony Ducks" by ducking prosecutions. He was introduced to Johnny Dio, a boss of the labor rackets. "Tony Ducks" was subsequently recruited into the 107th Steet Gang during the 1920's. He was interested in the usual mafia jobs, like extortion,bookmaking, gambling, etc. He would do very well, and it followed that eventually he became a boss. Corallo's first arrest, for grand larceny, was in 1929 while the family was under Tommy Gagliano. When the family was turned over to Tommy Lucchese, Tony Ducks became a prominent figure in the family. Lucchese thought highly of Corallo and appointed him capo while Ducks was still in his early 30's.

[edit] Rise to power

In the years that followed, he would excel in every business that he started. After he was appointed capo he moved his base of operations to Queens. His main business was Labor extortion in the late 1940s, where he would do business with Jimmy Hoffa. He had close ties to the Painters and Decorators Union, the Conduit Workers Union, and the United Textile Workers. All of which proved successful, having executive positions in these unions to show for his efforts. The thing he was best at, though, was maneuvering the control of legitimate businesses toward personal for his own profit. Corallo was, however, called before the McClellan committee to answer some questions about $70,000 US dollars stolen from the Teamsters Union local 239 by using names of dead mob members. Like many other mobsters, Corallo pleaded the fifth amendment many times during his 2 hour interrogation. After Lucchese's death, Corallo was to be put in charge. That had to be put on hold, however, due to a 2 year prison term. This for attempting to bribe New York Supreme Court Justice James "Vinny" Keogh and Assistant US Attorney Elliot Kahaner in an attempt to get a reduced prison term on a Lucchese family member. While the Commission awaited his release, Carmine Tramunti was selected as interim boss. Corallo was promoted upon his release. His next move would be to take over gravel distribution. That would increase his control over construction and its unions. Without gravel, construction would grind to a halt, and as Corallo controlled gravel, he controlled construction. It was a nice, profitable business. The garbage industry would be next on his list. With the help of a union official named Bernie Adelstein, the front business would be called Private Sanitation Industry Association. Next with the help of Lucchese capo Paul Vario and his crew, Corallo would gain power at JFK airport. Money was coming in fast and furious, and it looked as though things would be good for a long time. However, things change.

[edit] Downfall

No boss can stay hidden forever. Eventually someone will rat or enough FBI surveillance will facilitate the boss' downfall. He would soon become a victim of the RICO Act, just like the bosses of the Five Families and other high ranking members before and since. A microphone and recorder was planted inside Corallo's car where he subsequently talked to his driver about many things. That is what would bring him down. Corallo owned a massive home, costing almost one million dollars to build in the early 1970s at 9 Grace Court, South Oyster Bay Cove, Long Island. The FBI and New York City Police came there on February 25, 1985, with an arrest warrant for Tony Ducks. The next day a federal grand jury indicted those who were being charged. They were Phillip Rastelli, (Boss of Bonanno family), Gennaro Langella,(Acting Boss of Colombo family),Paul Castellano (Boss of Gambino family), Anthony Salerno (boss of Genovese family), as well as Aniello Dellacroce, underboss of the Gambino Family, Christopher Furnari, consigliere of the Lucchese family, Salvatore Santoro, underboss of the Lucchese family, Ralph Scopo, a member of the Colombo family, and the president of the Concrete Workers District Council, LIUNA. Everyone was found guilty as charged. Corallo was given 100 years, he would die in 2000 at the US Medical Center for Federal Prisoners. The Lucchese family would lose most of its power in the unions and the airport.